How To Run Long Distance

So you've decided you want to run long distance. There are a few rules that we need to abide to avoid injury and for you to achieve your goal. The first thing is what do you want to do? So you need to know what the goal is to know when you've got there.

The second thing is if you haven't done fitness for a long time, start with walking. You've got to remember that it takes 6-8 weeks to change the metabolism of the body. So if you're preferred distance is 10k which is 6 miles or half marathon, you've got to understand that it's going to take you between 16 and 20 weeks to get fit for the 10k and be able to do it without getting injured.

Nutrition is also a very important part so you can't be going out on a Saturday night and consume a lot of alcohol and then decide that you're going to go out for a medium to long run on a Sunday. Your body will suffer with that. So you've got to look at it, are you a bit of overweight? Do you need to reduce some of the sugar you've been taking or reduce your alcohol? When it comes to running long distance, nutrition plays a big part so you've got to have a balanced diet.

So if you haven't run since school or it's a new hobby that you're picking up, remember to pace yourself. Start by walking and jogging, so do 20 minutes of walking and then a minute of jogging and then stop building it out to a point where you can do a minute walking, a minute jogging, and then start to increase in the distance and the volume of the running every 2 weeks. That will get you a base of about 6-8 weeks where you can run consistently for 20-30 minutes.

Strength is also an important issue when it comes to training, to correct any muscle imbalances that you may have. If we look at this Endurance Runner, he's got similar posture to the Middle Distance Runner. But if you notice, the arms are working less fast because we want to get a rhythm and the heels are coming up but they're not coming up to high because it's hard to maintain over long distance.

But the posture is still up right and he's got a rhythm to his running. Our Endurance Runner is breathing less heavily than our Middle Distance Runner because they're working at slowest speeds. So remember, if you're just starting to plan to run for long distances, pace yourself, take it easy and start with the walk and jog and then increase the volume and the pace and the intensity gradually. .